6 tips to improve your hotel property listing

The images that appear with your property profile are perhaps your most important marketing tool, given they are the first impression for potentially hundreds or thousands of guests. Travelers have told us that bad photos are the number one reason they rule out a property,¹ and your photo gallery is an excellent opportunity to tell a more holistic story of your hotel.

Make sure to include a variety of high-quality professional and well-lit photos of your property, including rooms, amenities, and other areas of interest like your lobby or the local area, to make an emotional connection with guests, set expectations, and encourage bookings.

Guests do a lot of research to find the right accommodation to meet their needs, so it’s critical that their experience at your property matches the description and information on your listing, including amenities.  

Amenities help connect you with travelers who are searching for the guest experience you offer, and they are an important aspect of guest booking decisions. Around 50% of travelers said they are more likely to rule out a property with incomplete amenity descriptions,³ so creating a detailed and current list of amenities will ensure your property listing is working hard on your behalf.

Highlighting cultural landmarks, unique activities, and experiences in your local neighborhood and surrounding areas helps travelers better imagine their stay with you and establishes you as a local expert. Nearly 90% of guests want to see information or features of the surrounding property location.⁵

The top details they want to see include tourist sites, bars, restaurants, as well as shopping options, so create a compelling profile that appeals to traveler preferences.

The most critical element to crafting a high-performing property listing is maintaining accurate information on rooms and rates — especially during peak periods. Keeping your availability and rates updated and competitive will help you maximize the number of bookings you capture. 

Rev+, our revenue and performance insights tool, provides access to key market data for the next twelve months, in real time. You can leverage the competitive market insights in Rev+ to help you quickly and confidently optimize your rates.

Policies and fees accurately set guest expectations. Be sure to clearly state and keep up-to-date policies on topics such as cancellations, payment types, pets, check-out time, and more. You should also detail any deposits and fees guests may incur as part of their stay. In most cases, this information appears in your property listing alongside information on check-in and check-out times and optional extras.

Details on policies, amenities, and services are also factored in when guests filter a search for accommodations that best meet their needs. For example, if someone uses the free cancellation and pet-friendly filters and those policies align with the details in your profile, your property will likely appear in the search results.

Reading reviews from previous guests is an important part of travelers’ booking decisions. In fact, for hotel bookers, travel ratings and reviews were among the most important features when deciding where to book travel.⁷ Reviews build trust with potential guests, and they are one of the primary inputs for your guest experience score, which can impact your listing’s visibility and the number of bookings you receive.